We went inside a Shake Shack kitchen and they showed us how to make their famous burgers

We went into a Shake Shack kitchen during off hours to get an inside peek into what makes their famous ShackBurger so good. Mark Rosati, Shake Shack’s culinary director, explains the little details that set these burgers apart. Following is a full transcript of the video.

Mark Rosati: Cheeseburger, lettuce, tomato, Shack Sauce on a toasted potato bun. And what I like to do is right before I cook my patty is I’ll toast my bun. Brush it with a little bit of butter and toast the inside so it gets a little bit of crunch on it — which, great tip, because what you want to do is create contrast. So we use very soft potato buns. We want to get the inside just a little bit crunchy so you have that nice contrast with the soft, pillowy exterior, crunchy interior. Little details like that can really up your game.

Put all the elements on the bun so when that burger comes off and goes on the bun, you can eat it right away. You don’t want to wait, ’cause when the burger comes off it’s going to be nice and juicy and the cheese melty and drippy.

Last thing we need to do is cook the burger, which we are going to do right now. Next we’re going to smash our patty into the griddle, creating a nice, beautiful, even sear that’s going to create a lot of flavour for us. Add salt and pepper. And what we do is take the entire steak itself and grind that to make a burger. We’re looking for good fat content. For us, that’s somewhere around 20/80 — 20% fat to 80% lean. If you really want something amazing, go a little higher — go about 22% fat.

I’m going to take my spatula, and I’m going to raise it high and try to get all that crust off, ’cause that’s where the flavour is. And then give it a nice flip. See that nice golden-brown crust? That’s where all the flavour is, and that’s also locking in all the juices. Last thing: a slice of American cheese. See it’s all draping down nicely. It’s getting soft. That’s about the time you want to pull the burger off. You don’t want to go further than that.

Put it right down the center of the bun, and, as I was saying before, because the sauce, lettuce, and tomato are on there, I’m just going to shut it. That’s the ShackBurger.